[Once again, the family feast has arrived in the life of our church, when a small group of our sons and daughters join the army of Christ-followers, joining us elders, by profession of faith and profession of vows at Confirmation. The familiar question will soon be asked at this service: will you promise, will you pledge, will you become true followers of Jesus Christ? What a great thing this is: To live as a follower of Jesus Christ in this earthly world. It is a lifelong programme for all of us. It is what our confirmands have been preparing for in recent months, and it is what we all prepare for, always, again, in every service. Now, before we go back to the question and the answer, let the Word tell us what it is like to want to live as a true follower of Jesus Christ in this earthly world. So, on the last Sunday of the month in our congregation, on the basis of two verses from the Sermon on the Mount, which is already taking place, I would like to talk now about two of the distinctive, distinctive features of following Christ that are most recognizable in people who belong to Jesus, in whom the life of Christ is most different from any other way of life.One: meekness. "Blessed are the meek," says Jesus to His followers, "for they shall inherit the earth" (v. 5) Now, meekness is indeed something that is quite different from the general behaviour of human beings, indeed, it is the very opposite of the general human tendency, the nature. Meekness is not a popular quality. The world does not regard the meek man as worthy of life; it sees in meekness an unmanliness, a lack of strength, a humility. That's why people around us are generally violent, ruthless, calmly running over, if they can, anyone who stands in their way. Life is not gentle. It is hard, it is cold, it is cruel. And indeed, those who want to succeed often have to be hard, cold and cruel to find their place in it. The gentle man has little to gain. He is soon pushed aside, trampled on, and done away with by the bullies, the overbearers, the harsh, the ruthless.
Let us be frank: not only is gentleness far from the world's ambition, it is far from our own nature. Who among us can respond gently to an angry, offensive outburst? Who can respond with gentle love to an injustice done to them? Observe! If someone steps on your hen's mouth, what happens? What emotions explode inside you and burst out of you? And if they step on your heart? Just listen to what stirs up inside you! As a pastor, I know how difficult it is to help a wounded soul to calm the turmoil. Gentleness? Oh, where is that?! Who has it?! Let me say it plainly: in none of us! Not in any man by nature. For this gentleness is not a human quality, but a divine, Christlike one. Let me put it this way: it is not a matter of temperament, not a matter of temperament, but of faith. It is not something we create in ourselves by strong will, by self-discipline, but something we partake of through faith in Christ.
Look, brethren: Jesus was the meek. The way he endured abuse, the way he remained silent in the face of unjust and false accusations, the tender love with which he responded to human evil, the way he prayed on the cross for his murderers while his blood flowed - that was gentleness! Yes, Jesus is the picture of meekness. He could not be bribed, intimidated, hurt, or hijacked, for He wanted nothing more than to lay down His life for those who crucified Him. That is meekness. And that is not weakness! It is true strength. What needs more strength: to fight back or to endure? To avenge or to forgive evil? To retaliate, or to suffer harm? To curse or to bless the one who hurts? Yes: that was Jesus' power, his gentleness. That is how he conquered. Because there is no defence against it. It attacks the heart of man. And now Jesus says to us: see, this is precisely what you must follow me in. Dare to be different from the world, from other people. Do not be afraid that meekness is weakness. It is not. It is true strength. Dare to believe that it is divine to forgive the one who hurts, to persuade the wrong with good, to do good to the one who is mischievous. Christ's strength is gentleness, God's secret weapon against which there is no defence. Following Jesus, dare to be meek!
Let me try to illustrate this with an example. I knew a true Christ-follower. In the apartment above him lived a man of an infinitely nasty temper, with a hostile disposition, who especially hated people of faith. Several times a week, this upstairs neighbour would pour the contents of his rubbish bucket outside the window of the believer below him in the garden. This abuse was almost intolerable. What should one do in such a situation? Do you call the police? He did not do that, but called Jesus and asked Him what to do. Jesus said to him plainly, "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth" (Mt 5:5). How? By picking up the garbage, taking it up the stairs and throwing it outside the upstairs neighbor's door? No! That's not how God treats it. God didn't pour the garbage of our sins on us, he didn't scatter it all over our lives, but he took it all and threw it on Jesus. This was God's secret weapon to shame us, break us and make us new people! And in his amazement that God had come into this world as a meek lamb, taking upon himself the sins of the world - this believer was able to meekly, joyfully, continue to put up with the neighbour's unpleasantness. He remained as kind and friendly to him as if nothing had happened, while the upstairs neighbour shamed him. He could not resist Christian gentleness. He was overcome by the power of love.
How right Jesus is: "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth". Blessed indeed are they. Or do you think that those who can fight back, who can take revenge, are happier? Someone once, in his indignation, had a good word with someone who had done him wrong. 'I told him my piece well,' he boasted when he told it. I asked him: Are you happier now? Turns out, no. In fact! He felt terribly morally disgusted. And that is the unhappiest feeling. He was very sorry. Oh, if only he hadn't said that! - but it was already done, and now he wanted to justify himself by saying that he was right. But inside you feel that you were wrong. Believe Jesus: the meek are the happy ones. And what he adds: "they shall inherit the earth". A strange promise. Not heaven, but earth. Yes, it means that the meek have the future. We have already seen what mankind is going to do with its power, with its violence, with its harshness, with its unleashing of a spirit of anger and revenge. Wars, blood, ruins, suffering mark this path. All humanity has had enough of this. Now it should be tried with gentleness. Jesus says - but the whole world situation underlines the significance of this saying: the meek shall "inherit the earth", the meek shall inherit the future. It is therefore very timely to follow Jesus in a way that is characterised by gentleness.
Another characteristic is purity. "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God" (Mt 5,8), Jesus says to His followers. This purity of which Jesus speaks here is not the same as sinlessness. It does not mean that there is no sin in that heart. The writer of Proverbs is very right when he sighs: "Who can say, 'I have cleansed my heart, I am clean from my sin'?" (Pro 20,9) In fact, it is precisely those who want to follow Jesus who see very clearly how much impurity, dirt and filth accumulate in a heart. Calvin defined the meaning of a pure heart when he said. The pure heart is therefore a transparent heart, with no hidden motives, no selfish aims cloaked in a shining exterior. It has no duplicity or cunning.
The opposite of a pure heart is what James calls a double heart. He has two hearts, and therefore two mouths: he speaks this way and that, depending on who hears. He winketh two ways, he walketh two paths deceitfully, he limpeth two ways, he changeeth his colour ever according to that which is more advantageous. Well, a pure heart is a heart that is not divided between right and wrong. Jesus says: whoever would follow Him, let him not seek to show himself other than what he is, neither better nor worse. A believer should not want to appear unbelieving in an unbelieving environment - he will not be believed or appreciated anyway.
At one time in our childhood, we were advised by our educators never to do anything that we would be ashamed to tell our mother. Well, a follower of Christ must be so transparent that there is nothing hidden in him, nothing that he has to hide from himself or others. Most nervous disorders are caused by some such inner lie. The inner division, the splitting of the soul, of the heart, is not long to endure.
Jesus says: let us be honest to the depths of our souls with ourselves, with people and with God. Anyone who honestly confesses his own two-heartedness, his hidden sins, his Phariseeism, has at that moment ceased to be two-hearted. He who repents of the purity of his heart before God and men is already pure in this. Our hearts are pure when they belong entirely to Jesus. Not just a part of it, an area of it, but the whole of it. To such is the promise: "they shall see God." They shall see him, not as mystics imagine, in some lost experience, but in the events of daily life: they shall see the hand of God, his goodness, his care, his guidance in practical life. They can be convinced, almost tangibly, that God is here, God has been here again. And that is a good thing indeed. Jesus is right: "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God".
Such are the true followers of Christ: meek, pure in heart and happy. Very happy. The happiest people. It's worth the effort. Young and old alike. All of us.
Dear confirmand boys and girls, before you take your vows, let us sing together, "Lead us, Jesus, and we will go with thee.
Amen
Date: 28 April 1963.
Lesson
Zsolt 119,1-10